The flying monkeys got me...

Helis and fixed wing

AMA 957918
IRCHA 4345
AMA Intro Pilot Instructor

Pirate Kid Skeleton by RadDezigns.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Syma S107 is the Timex of Helis

This is my amazing little Syma S107. It has taught us so much. Hovering, orientation and that crashes can be survived, even ones full speed into a fast spinning ceiling fan when dumb thumbs strike, or when "pulling a Lukey", just letting go of the controls when danger arises causing the bird to fall fast and furiously. Between Aidan, Luke (who are good pilots, especially Aidan) and me, we have punished this little bird. The arrows point to a rather large chip out of one of the top rotors. Its covered with a piece of Scotch tape giving the leading edge its shape and re-balancing the vertical axis, balanced with some on the other side for more gouges over there. This tough little guy has had one crash after another, yet keeps on going. He shakes a bit now, from fear, pain, or something misaligned, I am not sure. Love this little helo; it will always be one of my favorites.  "It okay, baby, Daddy is getting you some new blades.. they'll be here soon."

Honestly, this has been one great starter helo. Unlike "toy" helos, it has 3 axes of control: up/down (elevator), left/right (yaw), forward/backward (pitch). Most toys have only 2 channels, up/down, left/right. 4 channel helos add roll to the other 3 channels (side-to-side). The gyro in this bird give it amazing stability in hover and in flight. I read that the record for controlled flight in a 4 channel+ helo without gyros is 5.56 seconds back in 1969... That's what separates this from the toys, in addition to having 3 channels/axes of movement. This one uses an infrared control radio, which makes it impossible to control outdoors in bright sunlight (tried it, went poorly). I may try it tonight though, in the dark.

No comments :

Post a Comment